Space Shuttle Atlantis Opens for Public Viewing

The last US space shuttle to soar made its museum debut on Saturday. Text: AP

In Pic: Visitors view the space shuttle Atlantis on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 29, 2013. The developers of the exhibit have raised the 150,000-pound (68,000 kg) spaceship 30 feet (9 meters) into the air and tilted it 43 degrees over on its left side, simulating the vehicle in flight. Photo: Reuters

The last US space shuttle to soar made its museum debut on Saturday. Text: AP

In Pic: Visitors view the space shuttle Atlantis on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 29, 2013. The developers of the exhibit have raised the 150,000-pound (68,000 kg) spaceship 30 feet (9 meters) into the air and tilted it 43 degrees over on its left side, simulating the vehicle in flight. Photo: Reuters

For the first time, people get to see a space shuttle in a pose previously beheld only by a few astronauts - in flight with its payload bay doors wide open and a robot arm outstretched.

In Pic: Visitors Maddie Cotton (L) and Sarah Ouellette view the space shuttle Atlantis from the "play area" on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 29, 2013. Photo: Reuters

More than 40 astronauts who flew on Atlantis planned to take part in the grand opening at the visitor complex.

In Pic: Visitors view the space shuttle Atlantis on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral. Photo: Reuters

Retired for two years, Atlantis is the last of NASA's three space shuttles to go on public display. Photo: Reuters

Visitors view the space shuttle Atlantis on the opening day of its exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida June 29, 2013. Photo: Reuters